After a long-time suspension of legal matters, and activities in the judiciary sector; engineered by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), the union has decided to call-off the two months strike.
The Union had embarked on a strike April 6, 2021, shutting down all courts, nationwide; demanding financial autonomy for the judiciary in the state.
JUSUN’s suspension of strike, followed a meeting of its National Execution Council (NEC) held in Abuja Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the National Judicial Council (NJC), and members of JUSUN met with a view to finding lasting solutions to the lingering strike.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammed and other stakeholders during the interface, lamented that the strike had affected the judiciary in particular and the nation at large, and therefore sought a way to resolve the lingering issue.
JUSUN deputy president Emmanuel Abiri briefed the council on behalf of the executive members of the association; explained that the grouse of the union was that, “despite the constitution provisions of section 81 (3) 121(3) 162(9), and the judgement delivered since 2015 in favor of JUSUN, the executive order 10 of 2020, and the agreement reached between the union and the Nigeria Governor Forum, the Governors refused to yield financial autonomy to the state judiciary”.
Abiri said the union’s other grievances included “non-payment of peculiar allowances for judiciary staff, the attempt by the Kaduna State Governor, to place the state judiciary under its civil service and scheming for a state Judicial court”.
He posited that the Nigeria Governors Forum, was only playing politics with the constitution, and had also failed to grant the one month payment agreed at the end of May as a demonstration of their good faith.
Mr Abiri noted that if the forum would renege in fulfilling its promise at the end of the month of May, there was no guarantee that it would not repeat same in June. He, therefore, requested that the Accountant General of the Federation be directed to deduct from source the amount meant for the judiciary, before the union would call off the strike.
Ijeoma Njoku reporting, Obinwannem News | June 10, 2021
